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By Arthur Utley
HOT SPRINGS — Bev Lane was the only player to break par on the Omni Homestead Resort’s Old Course on Monday and earned the qualifying medal for the 60th VSGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
Lane (Reston National, Great Falls) made her first appearance in the tournament a memorable one by shooting a 1-under-par 71 in the 18-hole qualifying round. She claimed the top seed for match play in the 16-player championship flight.
Her first-round opponent when match play begins Tuesday is Lisa Cox (Meadowbrook CC, North Chesterfield), who gained the last berth in the championship flight in a playoff with Brenda Baril (CC of Virginia, Richmond). Both shot 80 in the qualifying round.
Lane, mother of 2016 VSGA Amateur winner Joey Lane, logged seven birdies on her scorecard against six bogeys. She had five pars on the Old Course layout that features the unusual configuration of six par 5s, six par 3s and six par 4s.
Lane’s day “was pretty good even though I didn’t feel I was striking the irons great. It was good enough,” she said. “It was a great day. I played with some lovely ladies and that made it even easier.”
Cox was in Lane’s foursome on Monday.
In addition to her first time in the tournament, it was the first time Lane, who was a member of the winning team in the Virginias-Carolinas Team Matches two weeks ago, has recorded seven birdies in one round.
Lane finished two strokes clear of Natalie Easterly (CCV, Charlottesville), the reigning VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke Play and VSGA Four-Ball (with Amy Ellertson) champion; past Senior Women’s Stroke Play winner Mary Cabriele (CC of Fairfax, Vienna); and Lindsay Wortham (CCV, Richmond).
All shot 1-over 73. Easterly is the No. 2 seed, Cabriele is No. 3 and Wortham is No. 4.
Linda DiVall (Mount Vernon CC, Alexandria), Fran Hensley (Gordon Trent GC, Ridgeway) and Joanne Kitusky (The Dominion Club, Glen Allen) are the fifth, sixth and seventh seeds, respectively, after each posted 3-over 74.
Six past champions qualified for the championship flight. Four – who hold a combined 13 VSGA Senior Women’s Amateur titles – are in the upper bracket along with Lane.
The four play each other in the first round. Boodie McGurn (CCV, Richmond) squares off with Shelley Savage (Army Navy CC, Alexandria) in the No. 8-9 match. Each has won the event three times. The fifth-seeded DiVall, a three-time winner, meets four-time winner and defending champion Mimi Hoffman (Belle Haven CC, Springfield), the No. 12 seed.
Easterly, the tournament’s 2008 champion, takes on 15th seeded Joan Gardner (Mount Vernon CC, Alexandria), and 1999 winner Hensley meets Kay Tyler (Belle Haven CC, Springfield).
Past finalists Wortham and Cindy Morris (Elizabeth Manor G&CC, Portsmouth) round out the upper-bracket matches. Two other past finalists, Kitusky and Sherry Bowman (Montclair CC, Manassas), are paired in a lower bracket match as is Cabriele and Nevia Cashwell (GC at The Highlands, Chesterfield).
First-round losers will drop into the championship consolation flight. Matches also are being played in five other flights. First-round losers in those flights drop into consolation flights as well.
Retired Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Arthur Utley is a frequent contributor to coverage of VSGA championships.